53rd Leicester (Birstall St. James) Scout Group 93" ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING th FRIDAY 17 May 2024 at 19.30, Birstall Scout Headquarters AGENDA Apologies. Minutes of previous Annual General Meeting. Treasurer's Report Approval of Annual Report and Accounts Appointment of Group Executive Committee, al Approval of nomination of Group Chairman. bl Approval of nominations lo Executive Committee. ¢1 Election of other Executive Committee members. dl Election of Group Secretary. el Election of Group Treasurer. DC or representative Address. Grou Scout Leaders Annual Re ort 202312024. Since Covid disappeared there has been many section activities throughout the group to make up for lost time. We had a Coronation camp at Walesby scout campsite in Nottinghamshire. Fifty members took part for a long weekend and explorers stayed an extra an extra night. DHL kindly lent us a van to take equipment. At the end of May members from the scout section accompanied me for a 5 day stay at Great Tower scout campsite where various new activities were tried Bonfire Night took place in November with a fantastic turn out by members and their parents. We had a good old fashioned sing song around the campfire including fireworks. The night was finished with a good old hot dog and refreshments. Remembrance parade took place in November at St James church on school lane with a good turnout of leaders and scouts. Explorers section has now closed due to a lack of members requiring this section, we shall be opening it again once we have enough interest. Monday Cubs is now on Thursday run by Kam and Sham. Scouts Have now moved to a Monday from Friday and has new leaders in the shape of Rachel, Sarah T, Myself, Danielle, and a young leader called Jess.
It has been a remarkably busy year with all section and group events, activities. Member numbers have stayed around about the same with a lot of recommendations from parents. As always, a big thanks to all the leaders and exec for making Birstall scout group so GREAT. Nick F Group Scout Leader Scout Leader Leading up to the Summer last year we took part in lots of outdoor actpiities such as fire lighting, hiking. and the annual sausage sizzle. Then the Scout leaders left so Rachel bravely decided to take up the position of Scout Leader, we made a decision to move Cubs to a Thursday and a new leadership team was formed. In September we came back on the new night a little worried we might lose members, bul they all came back. and some brought their friends. With lots of new members and some joining us from Beavers we were able to go back to basics and start learning new skills. We attended Bonfire night with fireworks and hot dogs. We celebrated Diwall with lots of crafts and Halloween with scary games, We joined Vlednesday Cubs and the Beavers for a Christmas sleepover. We took part in lots of festive crafts, games, films and went to bed. We have worked hard to earn 169 badges through the year, some of us will achieve our Chief Scout awards soon. We have just made an Airfix model Jaguar which took us 2 weeks to complete. The kits came free from Aiffjx- Thank you. Last month we joined the other sections at Conkers for a sleepover. We had a brilliant time and took part in lots of activities. I would like to Thank Rachel for all her hard work over the years and wish her Good Luck with the Scouts. Also, Kam, Shyamal, and Maisie for supporting the section on its new night. Sue Farnham Cubs Scout Leader
Tuesda Beaver Annual Re ort 202312024. Beavers have enjoyed another amazing year, with plenty of badges being gained. The Beavers have enjoyed a challenging and varied programme over the past year which has supported in their work towards activity and staged badges. Creating various crafts, cooking, and various other activities. We had a day visiting Stonehurst farm travelling there by public transport followed by a sleepover with Wednesday Beavers, at the H.Q. We also attended the groups annual bonfire night at the local scout camp. Towards the end of last year, the Beavers took part in a joint sleepover at the Scout Hut and did various Christmas themed activities. The Beavers also enjoyed celebrating Diwali,. they got the chance to try different Indian foods and learnt about the story and history of how Diwali started. This year the Beavers have already had a jam-packed programme which includes celebrating Chinese New Year, starting the gardening badge and a group day out and sleepover at Conkers. Also, the Beavers have been over to Visit Loughborough Greenfields Bowls Club and had a go at Lawn Green bowls which was fully enjoyed by the Beavers and the Club members who kindly helped out. The intake list is plentiful, and we are happily running at 12 Beavers and will be able to for the foreseeable future. Many thanks to the Tuesday Beaver Leadership team for their extremely hard work. Sarah Putt Tu•sday Beaver Leader. ulrrels Annual Re ort 202312024. The Squirrel Drey number remain stable with Young people moving to Beavers and being replaced by members from our healthy waiting list. They work with real enthusiasm for their badges and have earned 189 this year with 7 Chief Scout Acorns. They enjoy learning basic skills such as cooking, hiking, first aid and love when leaders join in or demonstrate. They joined the group for Bonfire night with singing, fireworks and delicious hotdogs.
They Squirrel Drey has parents who are willing to come and support the leaders every week and we are so grateful for the help. There is always room for more help as the squirrels take a lot longer with activities. Thank you to all the leaders and parents who support this section. We are so looking fOard to camp !1111!I Maisie Farnham Squirrel Scout Leader Wednesda Beaver Annual Re ort 202312024. Wednesday Beavers is a very full and busy Colony. During the last year we have worked hard earing badges while having fun, cooking, planting, first aid and lots of sport activities. As a colony we have earned a total of 270 badges between us. During the summer months we spent time out and about with lots of Hikes, pond dipping at the lakes, nature walks, eating chips and at sausage sizzle at Johns lee wood. We had a visit to Stonehurst farm organised by Sarh. There were lots to see and do followed by a ride on a tractor. More chips before we slept over in our hut. Bonfire night was fantastic as always with singing, fireworks, and hot dogs. We had lots of celebrations throughout the year and slept over at the hut for Christmas which included craft, a giant snowball fight and a film before bed. After Christmas we did activities to support the birds through the winter. Another sleepover in the spring took us to Conkers with the Cubs and Scouts. We had a fantastic day, and the weather was kind after all the floods. We took part in Den building, Barefoot walks, play areas galore, activity trails, mazes and much more. The Scout leaders organised wide games before a film and then to sleep or not. Thank you to our leaders Maisie and Ben for all the ideas, time, and energy. Thank you to the parents for your support. Thank you to all the leaders of Birstall Scout Group for the Group Event we take part in. Sue Farnham Wednesday Beaver Leader.
Wednesda ht Cubs 202212023. The Numbers of members have stabilised a little in this pack but we are still very busy. Last summer we spent a lot of time outside doing pond dipping, hiking, playing games, doing sports, and to finish the term we met at Johns lee Wood for wide games and a sausage sizzle. We learnt new skills, such as cooking, first aid, and others we haven't quite mastered such as knots and listening, but we persevere. We had a go at shooting with air rifles and some of us were quite good. We have earned 253 badges including 5 Chief Scout Silver Award this year. We attended Bonfire Night with singing, fireworks, and hot dogs, which was a fantastic night. Next came all the celebrations of Diwali and Halloween to take us up to Christmas and the annual sleepover. We had a massive snowball fight and did lots of craft. Some of us slept a little bitlll I I In the new year we supported the birds making feeders. We made Spitfire Airfix models which took us 3 weeks to complete but they did look good once they were finished. Thanks to Airfix for the free kits. We had a sleepover at Conkers at the end of April. It was a fantastic experience with lots to do. We took part in the activity trail, den building, mazes, caving, and lots more. Thanks to the leaders Keith, Sarah, Ben and Maise who give lots of time and energy to this section and support with the planning. Sue Farnham Cub Scout Leader Scouts Annual Re ort 202312024. The scout section is under new leadership and so we've decided to spice up our annual report by submitting a presentation to be shown at the AGM. Pictures speak louder than words and when you watch it, you'll see it demonstrates the huge breadth of amazing experiences our scouts have had during the last year. The Scout Leaders" Rachael Turney Scout Leader Treasurer's Re In 2023 we were back to normal operating conditions. We made an operational loss of £1676 which was the result of having to renew the hut floor at a cost of ort
£5422. We were assisted in this by a grant of £3000 from the Edith Murphy Trust. It should be noted that all figures in the Income and Expenditure account are gross figures, this is a Charity Commission requirement. Income Items to note are of course the £3000 grant which I mentioned in the introduction. Gift Aid is now back to normal after the pandemic, although the figure of £2675 is also an indicator that more people are signing up for it. Events made a slight loss of £334 which is considered reasonable on a turnover of over £7000. Fundraising shows a net income of £868 but this figure is skewed because we didn't get the Invol of £400 for the Last Night of the Proms band until after the end of the financial year. Expendlture Section Activities. which are those that take place on meeting nights, stayed roughly the same. Equipment expenditure was a lot less because a lot of equipment was renewed in the previous year. Capitation for the year was £6570 and costs of collecting membership fees being £454. Repairs and Renewals includes the cost of the new floor which I mentioned in my introduction, the rest being made up of new LED lights throughout at a cost of £427, cleaning at £666 and general maintenance. Utilities include gas and electric, at £3100, water rates and broadband. Administration costs include the cost of OSM software and auditor. General comments The main event that affected the figures for 2023 was of course the renewal of the floor, but when taking this into account it still leaves us with a healthy balance of £9560 which is a good start to the current year. Nlck Bryan- Group Treasurer.
63rd LEICESTER IBIRSTALL ST JAMES] SCOUT GROUP INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2023 2023 2022 INCOME Membership Fees Ev8nts Donations Grants Unifoms Fundralslng Gift Aid HQ Hirè Bank Interesl 14882 7443 984 3000 14 1000 2675 2314 196 15131 9366 1034 62 1650 281 2328 54 32308 29906 EXPENDITURE Events Badge8 Section Activities Equipment Fundralsing C8Pltation & Membership costs Repairs & Renewals Insurance utilities AGM & Leaders Mèétings Training Uniforrns Administration Costs 7777 1381 2169 sos 132 7024 7873 996 3948 874 261 358 886 11391 1908 2421 2041 1030 6797 2779 1033 2325 779 888 436 33984 33826 EXCESS OF EXPENDITURE OVER INCOME 11676) 13920)
53rd LEICESTER IBIRSTALL ST JAMES) SCOUT GROUP BALANCE SHEET as at 31st DECEMBER 2023 2023 2022 CURRENT ASSETS COIF Charities Deposit Fund Cash al Bank 2500 7060 5000 6237 TOTAL ASSETS 9560 11237 Represented by :" ACCUMULATED FUND Opening Balance Excess of Expenditure over Income 11236 -1676 15157 -3920 9580 11237
Independent Exarninerfs Report to the Trustses of 53rd Leicester [Btrstall St James] Scout Group I report on the accounts of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2023. Responslbllity of Group Executive Committee As the charity's trustees. the Group Executive Committee is responsible for the praparation of the accounts. Basls of Examlnerf8 Report My examination includ88 a review of the accounting records kept by the Group and a comparison of the accounts pr888nted with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence Ihat would be required in an audil. Consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. Independant Examlnerf8 Statsment In connection with my examination, no mattér ha$ come to my attentlon 11 to which, in my opinion, attention should b8 drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached, 21 which gives me re880nable cause lo believe that, in any material respect, the a¢¢ounting rules ot the Group's constitution have not been met, A F Tomlinson Accountant 10 Melba Way Birstall Leicesler LE4 4GT 26 April 2024
Assets Re ort We are a registered charity in our own right Charity no: 1181325 The Group Executive Committee members are the Charity Trustees of the Group. The Executive Committee meet regularly during the year to oversee the business of the Group. The Scout Headquarters and land is owned by the Group. The Headquarters buildings are insured for £ 203,425.00 and the equipment is insured for £24,310.00. The Headquarters we believe are in reasonable state of repair and structurally sound and maintenance is carried out on a regularly Basis. All reasonable precautions and risk assessments are carried out to ensure the Headquarters is a safe venue to use. We currently hire out the H.Q to outside groups and also occasional hirers which brings in additional income which in turn helps with maintenance of the building. All equipment is kept in good order and replaced when and if deemed to be out of date or not fit for purpose. Our group is co-educational, the Scout Group consists of the following sections Squirrels, two Beaver Colonies, Cub Packs and one Scout Troop, and one Explorer unit. Each Section has an active and stimulating programme, details of which will appear elsewhere in this report. Financially, we are in good order as indicated in the treasurers report. The Group only survives and thrives thanks to the many volunteers who give their time freely. l express my thanks to all leaders, assistants, instructors, helpers, and committee members who have enabled the Group to have another successful year. Vlc Dolby Group Secretary